01/16/2012

Come Work With Us – We’re Awesome

Ok, here's my pitch on why working here is awesome, because I know you're dying to know. Seriously though, it's a good place to work.

Always Training, Always Improving

The main thing that has kept me here is the continuous education and the challenging work. I've been learning new technologies, and developing new skills ever since day 1. I started out as an intern years ago, and just to give you an idea of some of the highlights, I've developed an HTML parser, a printing system, an entire SharePoint reporting solution, and a backend data and payment system. And of course, I've worked on a whole slew of other things across the board, developing not only my software skills, but also my business and communication skills.

Flexible Hours

Another awesome thing about working here is the completely flexible work hours. You just have to show up to the meetings, put in your fair share of time, and deliver.

Good, Smart People

Also, there's no office politics or drama here. Everyone's cool and hard-working, and we're always working to do the best we can rather than achieve some ulterior motive.

People listen to what you have to say, whether you're the CEO or an intern, whether you're a developer or a sales person or a marketing person. Again, we're just trying to be smart and do our best, and that means listening to people's ideas and concerns.

Fun Stuff!

And then there's the fun stuff. We get fresh donuts, Monday mornings, have company lunches twice a month, free soda and snacks, and we do these fun social events from time to time. Like we just had our winter holdiay party last month (we all got iPads!). And then there was this time we went out and had a big picnic at the park, and just hung out and played volley ball.

And one thing that's been really cool for me is that if you want to do some project that you think will be helpful, it's no big deal, you just do it. Actually, we're always encourging people to try new things and think outside the box. We have these Get Out Of Jail Free cards, and the idea is you can do some wild idea, and if it doesn't work out, you can just trade in your Get Out Of Jail Free card.

One cool project I did was a SharePoint list adapter, which was basically making it easier to access the data and hook it into our system. And what's really cool about that is that it really took off and became a greatly demanded part of our SharePoint solution.

We also have this Friday project thing, so you can dedicate Friday afternoons to a different project of your choosing, provided it's remotely interesting to the company, and it's a plus if it helps you develop personally. It's fun because you can do a lot of different things, even if it's not your area of expertise. People have made videos, done blog series, made new apps, and some other things.

I also like the fact that the company hosts blogs for everyone and encourages the whole social media thing. It's a nice outlet, and I think it sort of gives a way to give back sometimes because you can share what you've learned.

So that's it from my perspective. If you have any questions, feel free to post it in the comments.